The abortion I didn’t want
Every woman should be able to decide whether or not to keep her pregnancies without pressure from anyone else.
However, such was not the reality of these three women.
Biola*, 28
I first got pregnant at 15. But my mom had concoctions of all types on standby to remove it, just name it. No erring eggs were about to rain on Mama Biola’s parade. Only 1 abortion became 6 with mum’s backing.
By the time I clocked 23, reality had dawned on me–I was going to get really hurt if I continued that way.
Akeem was the one knocking me up and the loved-up me was always opening the door. The plan was that I would get pregnant for my bae and get married. But plans seldom work out as planned.
Things started going south in Akeem’s construction business. We were both confused and running up and down for a solution. Turned out my mom was behind it all. She made Akeem’s life hell until I agreed to terminate the pregnancies and our relationship. Reason? She couldn’t give her daughter to a guy that had only one car. He eventually had to relocate to Abuja because no one was willing to give him jobs again.
PS: Akeem is now an oil magnate, my Fallopian tubes are damaged and my mom is very much dead.
Chioma*, 29
Three children from different fathers and 0-0-1 meals, that’s how my family was.
I started working for Ben as a sales girl in his lab equipment shop when I was 18. Ben knew of my family’s situation and was extra nice to me–with ulterior motives. Not that he totally forced me to have an affair with him but I couldn’t say no to a life better than poverty.
He was going to make us official when I bumped into his wife looking very pregnant. Prior to this revelation, Ben had always sworn he couldn’t stand the sight of his wife. How then was she now pregnant?
I was in denial for days but soon realised Ben didn’t really have plans for me. So, I aborted my baby. The rightful wife, of course, got to keep hers while I just played table tennis with my eggs.
Whenever I see people carrying babies, I can’t go near them. That’s how broken I still am.
Deola*, 29
I have always told my husband how hard it was for the women in my family to conceive even before we got married. I avoided being promiscuous even as a youngster but then like they say marriage can be a black market. After one child, my husband started complaining that he didn’t want a second child yet.
I mean, we both were getting the bag in our early 20s. I could not comprehend why he was so against another child.
Anyways ,I got pregnant by the time our daughter was 4 years-old. And the peace in our house vanished with it. My husband made sure our marriage was hell for me until I agreed to abort my baby.
I found out two months later that he has a side chick who had given birth to a set of twins the same month I found out I was pregnant. The matter is yet to be settled, just wanted to share.
#PeopleTalk is a submissions segment for everyday people to talk straight about the twists and turns of everyday life. This edition features the stories of three women who wanted to keep their pregnancy but were influenced to do otherwise.
